Shame NSW didnt be aware and take care during

The New South Wales Government is engaging in transparent electioneering by promoting the School Hall rip-off with taxpayer dollars, Christopher Pyne, Shadow Minister for Education said today.

"The new advertisement appearing on television in NSW promotes at length the School Hall program and then attaches a fig leaf to apparently justify it being paid for by Workcover NSW," Mr Pyne said.

"If the NSW Government has genuine concerns over the safety of students at schools constructing school halls, then I would have thought they should be communicating those concerns directly to the students. It is pretty clear this is a political advertisement," he said.

"If there was any truth in this advertising they would have explained the amount of funding wasted due to rorting and price gouging, and mentioned how many local community contractors missed out on work due to gross mismanagement.

"This will no doubt be the first of many Labor state government attempts to promote Federal Government programs in the lead up to the federal election this year," Mr Pyne said.

To save the ad agencies some time and the taxpayer millions of development dollars here are some suggestions of taglines for future federal education policy advertisements.

Computers in Schools: Out of date before on the desk

Trade Training Centres: Once in every school, now one in every ten schools

The School Hall Rip-off: Off the truck, at triple the price

NAPLAN Boycott: Cross the picket line on parent/teacher night

April 20, 2010

Media Contact:

Adam Howard